How do I protect my data?

The first thing is taking well care of your computer. Damage to the computer hardware can also cause damage to the data on the computer, like your computer programs and documents.

• Avoid Heat & Vibration
  All drive components, both electronic and mechanical, are sensitive to heat and vibration. Keep your computer in a dry, controlled environment that is clean and dust-free. And do not put heavy things on top of the computer. Set up your computer in an area with very little traffic to ensure that it does not get bumped. Heat and/or vibration are two of the leading causes of hard drive failure.
  

• UPS
  This is an uninterruptible power supply which protects your computer from power cuts, and peaks and drops in power.

• Anti-virus software
  Using Anti-virus software, like discussed in the radio show of 2 weeks ago, helps protecting your data. This software prevents your computer from getting infected by computer viruses. However, even this software gets out-dated so make sure you update this software at least a few times every year.
  

• Passwords
  When more people use 1 computer and/or the computer is connected to a (local) network you can protect your data with passwords. With passwords you can 'lock' the data in order to make sure that not just everyone can access and modify it. You can 'lock' documents, files or even a whole computer with a password. You can share the password with people that should be able to access and use the data. Make sure that you regularly change your password so that other people can't guess the pass word and access your data.
  

• Backups
  Making an electronic copy of the data on your computer so that it will not easily get lost in case something happens to the computer. For example, if you have a fire at home of in your office and you loose all the paper documents that you had stored there. In order to prevent these documents from getting lost, you can make a copy of it and store it in another place, outside your office or house. You can do the same with the information on your computer and hence prevent that information from getting lost. You can make electronic copies of your data and store it in another place than the computer you were using.